Oven Baked Chimichangas

Among the tastytortillawraps I’ve posted about in the past, this chimichanga recipe ranks right up there in simplicity and deliciousness. I love trying healthier remakes of classic fried foods (although I confess, I do love me some real fried food now and again) and these chimis bake up delightfully crisp with a hearty, flavorful filling that can be as spicy or as mild as you like.

The great thing about a meal like this is you can adapt it in so many ways – make it vegetarian, use a different type of meat or variety of beans, add your favorite herbs, extra cheese…you get the picture.

I’ll definitely be making these over and over again. Served with a light green salad and some fresh fruit and veggies (or perhaps this delicious fruit concoction) and this is a perfectly perfect meal for any night of the week!

Place a rimmed baking sheet in the oven and heat the oven to 450 degrees. While the oven is heating, in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat until the oil is shimmering. Cook the onion until it is just softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the beans, rice, chicken and chipotle and cook until the mixture is heated through, about 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the cheese and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1/4 teaspoon each).

Stack the tortillas on a plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave the tortillas until they are warm and pliable, about 1 minute. Top each warm tortilla with some of the chicken mixture, leaving about a 2-inch border at the bottom of the tortilla. Fold in the sides and roll up the tortilla tightly. Brush the wrapped tortillas with the remaining oil and arrange them seam side down on the hot baking sheet that has been preheating in the oven. Bake until the chimis are golden brown and crisp, about 8 to 10 minutes. Serve.

I have never had a chimichanga either. I don’t order them in restaurants because they are fried…this baked version looks wonderful! I love that you use leftover rice and chicken, which for some reason I always seem to have in my refrigerator! I think these would freeze well, don’t you Melanie? Perfect to make ahead for a Tex-Mex themed party for 25 people, don’t you think?

Kim – I had a feeling someone would ask the freezer question. I haven’t actually tried it, but I’m guessing they would probably freeze pretty well, also. If I went that route, I’d probably freeze them just rolled up, without baking, then remove them from the freezer, rub with oil and pop in the oven. (Long live those huge dinner parties of yours, by the way!)

Christina – I am mostly sticking with my no-oven ban (except for a few here and there’s) but some of these oven-required recipes are still popping up because I have a back log of recipes to share – so these chimichangas, for instance, I made a month or so ago and am just getting around to posting them.

Love Chims, but never thought to make them at home, even though we love Mexican over here. Thanks for a great recipe..
P.S big fan of using the leftovers… seems I too have lots of chicken and rice leftover!! : )

I’m definitely going to try these. They sound great! I’m thinking you should also add some cumin ( my all-time favorite spice). Thanks for sharing. I’ve spent HOURS on your site since discovering it about two weeks ago. Eeeek!!!

I have a recipe similar to this, and like Mel said, you can just freeze the chimi before baking. I usually freeze them individually on a cookie sheet (so they don’t freeze and stick together), and then after 24 hours or so, I’ll put them in a ziploc bag. My family actually eats these as burritos (without the oil) and we will sometimes bake them in the toaster oven (I can fit usually 4 on the little pan), or they do re-heat in the micro for a quick meal … for about 2-2.5 minutes, if they’re frozen solid. It is an alternative to using the oven, but like with most things, micro cooking doesn’t give you any kind of crunch.

Can’t wait to try these! My mother in law makes great chimichangas (she is Mexican, afterall) but I cringe when I see her frying them! These seem like a great alternative for my Weight Watchers diet! With some of the salsa you posted last time…yum!

I am a newbie to your lovely kitchen cafe. I LOVED this recipe! I had friends over and they were impressed. I just took the rice out (I served Spanish Rice as a side dish) and I used left over shredded pork. The tortilla was perfectly crispy and the whole thing guilt-free because they are baked! Thank you!

I loved these and so did my family. I agree with another poster, it fits in great with weight watchers! Next time I’m going to try making whole wheat tortillas to go with it. Thanks for such great ideas!

Do you think I could use chipotle seasoning instead of the minced canned chipotle? Any thoughts on how much to use? I know that stuff is strong Although I guess since everything is cooked already, I could just taste as I go. Thanks, can’t wait to try this.

megan – I’ve never used the chipotle seasoning but even so, I would definitely say it is worth a try so you don’t have to buy a special ingredient. Since it is pretty strong stuff, I’d go for 1/4 teaspoon to start and move up from there.

These were a perfect dinner success last night. Delicious! I was wondering if you ever serve any sauce on them? You know how they sometimes come smothered sauce and topped with more cheese? Just wondered if you had any suggestions on what to use to do that? I know, bake ‘em so they’re healthy then smother in sauce and cheese? But it does sound good right? Thanks.

Thanks, Kira! Yes, your idea of smothering them does sound good. If I were you and wanted to keep it simple, I’d grab a can of salsa verde (I like the Herdez brand) mix it with some sour cream to make a creamy sauce. Smother the chimis in that and the cover with a mixture of monterey jack and cheddar.

I made 40 of these yesterday… my own variation based on what I had in the pantry but OMG they were by far the best thing I’ve made in a long time. Thank you for the inspiration! I made these for my freezer meal swap and I’m already hearing reports of how amazing they are. One thing that I think made a difference in how creamy there were is that I took sour cream and mixed it slightly with whole milk to get a more yogurt-like consistancy and gave each a generous squirt…when it warms in the oven the mixture oozes into every bite. Thanks Mel!

Amy M – I’m thrilled that these have been a hit with your dinner swap group! Making 40 seems overwhelming but I guess if you have all the stuff/mess out, you might as well make a ton! I love the oozy creamy tip.

Just thought you should know the salsa verde/sour cream sauce was excellent. I mixed half a jar of salsa verde with 8 oz of sour cream, warmed it on the stove, and poured it over top each chimi as it came out of the oven. Then, topped with some extra cheese. DELICIOUS! Thanks for the suggestion. We loved it.

We are SO addicted to this recipe! I’ve made them every Saturday for the past 5 weeks… baked, cooled, wrapped foil, and froze. Microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute. I’ve been omitting the chicken, and they are still fabulous! Best/easiest lunch ever!

could I make these in the morning or the night before work? then have the hubby stick them in the oven when he gets home? He gets home at 4 from work and i dont get home till almost 8, so if I dont have something he can just put in the oven he usually orders out! So Im looking for some ideas!

Christine – yes, I definitely think you could make them the morning of. If you make them more than one day in advance, I’d pop them in the freezer and then bake them straight out of the freezer, just increasing the baking time by a few minutes and checking often to make sure they are heated through.

These were amazing! My family loved them and my husband was happy to have one leftover for work the next day! We have been trying a lot of your recipes and so far they’ve all been great! We also love the coconut curry chicken! Ha, ha – all of the sudden my husband thinks I’m a great cook, thank you!

So, I’m pretty sure this has been asked before, but I can’t remember where or what the answer was. What do you do with the rest of the chiles in the can that you open? I hate throwing away the whole can, but I don’t have any other recipes to use them in. Can you freeze the rest for use later on??

I’ve made “crispy burritos” very similar to this, I just put the burrito in a non greased pan on the stove and crisp both sides. You could probably use a griddle pan to cook a bunch at a time too, that way you can skip the oven and get it nice and crispy still for those who don’t want to use oil. I will be trying these out this week thanks!

Mel, these were really good! I omitted the oil on top and used a light spritz of cooking spray. They turned out great! I would seriously eat the filling without the tortilla. Just break out the guacamole and salsa…YUM!

these look so amazing. making them for dinner tonight, however i couldtn find the chiles at the supermarket. even asked for help and nooone could find them so i got regular green chiles in the can. anything i can add to make them like what i need? ive been dying to try these and hope they come out just as good with out the adobo sauce

Julie – the green chiles don’t have the same smoky, deep flavor as the adobo sauce but they’ll add a bit of pop, nonetheless (but you’ll miss a bit of the spiciness). Hopefully you’ll be able to find the chiles in adobo to make these in the future again. They are pretty common – I’m surprised your store didn’t have them, darn it!

Oh my word, this could be a new addiction! I didn’t have the chiles or black beans, so I used a can of mostly-drained chili beans. The sauce with them helped kick the flavor! I also stirred in a bit of salsa. Love the crispy shell without the deep-fry yuckiness! If it weren’t for fear of pregnant heartburn afterwards, I would’ve eaten about 3 of these myself.

Tasty! I had ground beef on hand, so gave it a whirl. Next time I’ll probably cut down on the onion a bit and increase the adobo fun to combat the beef factor. Looking forward to experimenting more. Good flavors, healthy, and really easy. Easy to make earlier in the day and pop in the oven when the hungry little monkeys start getting crazy. It’s also very good dipped in plain yogurt mixed with salsa as you eat it. Yum! Also, because they were crispy, these were less messy than usual burritos — very nice! Thanks Mel!!

Mel, I found your web as I was looking for the best way to freeze seafood chimi’s. I make my own Ancho chili sauce in the filling and use about 2 cups that has heavy cream to pour on top. When I open a can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce I pour the contents into the blender and pulse the get a good mix and then I pour into a ice cube tray and freeze, then bag them for later use. I agree with Shelly about adding the Cumin.

We were downright shocked at how delicious these were. I made mine without meat at all. I used a brown rice mix with lots of seasonings. Didn’t have the adobo, but I fried jalapeno, serrano and poblano peppers along with mushrooms, before adding beans to make my version of refrieds. I’m so glad to have found this technique, and one of the great things is you can totally make it with anything you like.
It was all about finding something to go with the pico de gallo i was making from the homegrown tomatoes! Now i’m off to explore the rest of your site! Thanks!!

Love this idea! I’ve been grilling these, I call burritos – you call chimichangas – for a long time but love the idea of being able to bake them all at once to the crispiness I work on one at a time in a grilling pan. Great time saver!!

I made these tonight and my hubby and I both loved them! I did not have chiles or cilantro on hand but made them anyway. I used spanish rice to add some flavor. Topped with half salsa, half sour cream mixture and melted cheese! Yummy! Thank you so much for sharing.

These were a huge hit with my family (including the kids-shocker!)! I had extra filling and actually had to bake more in the middle of dinner because the kids had seconds and ate my husbands share. Thank you for the basic recipe.
I added chopped squash when cooking the onions and hid it in the filling. No one even knew. I used quinoa instead of chicken for one of our veggie meals this week. I also added corn and sliced black olives.
We dipped them in sour cream (added salsa verde to the adults sour cream). SO YUMMY!!!